Is reduced footfall on the high street affecting your business?

Combat reduced footfall on the high street in your local area with these hints and tips from this year’s winners of HJ's British Hairdressing Business Awards. Name: Carla Rinaldi Salon: Not Another Salon Award: Manager of the Year “Our clients use social platforms, which means we don’t rely on walk-ins. We attract our clientele from social media and we’ve found it to be the golden business tool for this era. Skin testing means walk-ins for colour are not possible so we should see this change as a positive. If we use Instagram as our ‘shop window’ we will avoid having to turn people away at the door.” Carla’s steps to success: – We ensure all social platforms send out a strong message about who we are as a company. We’ve also launched a media brand to help other salons with social marketing. – I provide constant coaching to motivate my team and ensure they are producing content for our social accounts. In fact, contributing to our social media channels is now written into our team’s contracts. – We also have regular meetings about the importance of social marketing in the salon. Name: Ian Hendry Salon: Maxwells Professional Hairdressing Award: Salon Team of the Year “Our salon has been hidden away down a small side street from the main market square in Biggleswade for over 28 years but we continue to grow every year. My advice is to forget what’s happening on the high street and concentrate on what’s happening in your salon. If you and your team are focused on delivering high standards and your clients love what you do they will return to you.” Ian’s steps to success: – Train your team on client retention and rebooking. Make it one of their key performance indicators and offer rewards for high performers. – Use marketing to persuade existing clients to spend more, visit more and recommend more. – We spent £4,000 on a high-quality mail drop to expensive postcodes in our area. This means cash-rich potential clients can browse through our services as opposed to swiping past us on a 24-hour Instagram story. Name: Lisa Walby Salon: Francesco Group, Cheltenham Award: Franchisee of the Year “The drop in footfall and high parking costs has had an impact on client visits. We are focusing on developing our team’s communication skills. We want to find out what each individual client wants and needs and we are tailor-making services for them. We are also looking at our opening hours to see what’s more convenient to them, such as later nights when parking charges don’t apply or when child care is easier.” Lisa’s steps to success: – Identify all individual needs and create affordable packages to meet your client’s wishes. – Focus on your team’s personal relationship building skills to help with client retention and re-bookings. – Employ a personal customer relationship manager whose sole responsibility is to contact clients after each visit to ensure the result met all expectations. Name: Natalie Love Salon: Edward James London Award: Salon of the Year 1 “Our clients research our brand online so our digital presence acts like our shop window. We’ve invested heavily in our online strategy, which is focused on client engagement. We’ve noticed clients combine hair visits with catch-ups with friends and family so they come to the high street for a service experience rather than retail therapy.” Natalie’s steps to success: – We make our social media specific to what we do and who we are and also to show off our locations. – Clients come to the salon for an experience that allows them to escape from their hectic lives. – We build elements into our service that will remind clients of us when they get home such as home-advice guidelines and professional products. Name: Salv Mulé Salon: Academy Salons, Cobham Award: Retail Salon of the Year “We’ve seen a drop in walk-in trade thanks to reduced footfall depressing high street and expensive parking, which is also reflected in our retail sales. We’ve focused on rebooking all of our clients before they leave with a £10 off incentive. We’ve also increased retail recommendations by stressing our credentials as hair experts. We offer quarterly promotions to outclass the online shopping competition too.” Salv’s steps to success: – We advertise the salon in the local glossy magazine as it’s essential to get the word out to your target market. – We give existing clients 50% off their next appointment when they recommend a friend. – Our loyalty scheme means a client who pays £2,000 receives 20% off all services and products for a year. Name: Phil Smith Salon: Smith England Award: Salon of the Year 2 “Our salon was badly affected by the Novichok attacks in Salisbury in 2018. There was a strong feeling of uneasiness with the town feeling quieter than usual. It is starting to pick up slowly but we're still suffering from reduced footfall.” Phil’s steps to success: – We advised the council to stop all parking fees, which has helped to increase footfall. – We’re working on a proposal to lower business rates to support small local businesses rather than suffer from reduced footfall caused by fear. – Each week a team member or client nominates someone who’s given them great service and we reward them with a salon visit. Thinking of our business outside of the salon reminds the team to build local awareness. Name: Mila Timberlake and Natalia Irvine Salon: Rainbow Room International, Uddingston Award: Front of House Team of the Year “Luckily for our industry, clients can’t get their hair cut online. Due to the nature of our business and our location, reduced footfall hasn’t had a major impact.We are aware of the move towards e-commerce and we’re working towards raising our online profile to promote our business and attract new clients.” Mila and Natalia’s steps to success: – We take part in awards and events to raise our salon’s profile. – We continuously increase our presence on social media using Instagram to exhibit our work and inspire more visits. – We have a ‘Share the Secret’ referral programme to spread our good work through word of mouth. Name: Christian Wiles Salon: Christian Wiles Hairdressing Award: Male Grooming Salon of the Year “Our guests still enjoy affordable luxuries. They want to feel pampered in a luxurious setting and well educated on how to care for their hair. Low maintenance colour, such as balayage, is popular so we spend time educating clients on how to keep their hair looking fabulous between visits with toners and colour boosting services.” Christian’s steps to success: – We have an online and offline colour education campaign for clients, which increases retail sales. – We attract new guests in the salon with our bespoke digital and localised marketing campaigns. – We focus on educating and developing our team to the highest level to remain leaders in our field. Name: Janet Maitland Salon: Janet Maitland Hair Excellence Award: Business Director of the Year “Drastic Government and council action is needed for the reduced footfall on the high street to recover. We are not on the high street so we have free on-street parking and we own the properties so we are not at the mercy of landlords. Our locations have houses nearby, which gives us a regular clientele. The money saved on leases is re-invested into our salons and staff, which pays huge dividends in client satisfaction, staff loyalty and repeat business.” Janet’s steps to success: – We make sure the salon looks immaculate inside and out. – We offer our clients excellent refreshments, luxury magazines and realistic service pricing. – We provide excellent trained staff who put the client first and feel part of our salon’s success story. This article was originally published in the March 2019 issue of Hairdressers Journal